


Just admit it

by FernShaw



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Also Hornet purrs, Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, F/F, Hornet is in need of affection, Just because some spiders can purr when they're near a possible mate and I will obviously use it, Lace is a total tsundere in this fic but we love her anyway, Slow Romance, World Travel, Yes I have no other words than Tsundere to describe it, and she will get it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 22,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23845822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FernShaw/pseuds/FernShaw
Summary: Lace has the biggest crush on Hornet but can't let it out because she was kinda supposed to kill her.And so started an adventure of disaster lesbians trying to get their feelings towards each other.
Relationships: Hornet/Lace (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 46
Kudos: 163





	1. Chapter 1

Bells ringing. Little bugs chasing her. Running, running and running. Pharloom was a place Hornet stayed in for a very very little time, yet a routine was already starting to be created. A routine that Hornet hated already.

"Come on, couldn't you just, you know... Go capture someone else ?! I don't have time to stay in your weird cult, I have a kingdom to rebuild !!" 

But the bugs never listened. They were like hypnotised by some kind of force, chasing down Hornet like their lifes were on the line. Which was strange because Hornet could easily kill them at the moment if she wasn't that tired. Her shell was fractured and she knew she had to rest or she will definitely not be recovering. Jumping from rock to rock, she was grasping everything she could to reach the area she knew was the safest around : to the very top of the place. But the rocks were burning hot and she definitely wasn't able to run faster than them. Standing onto a small platform, she felt the urge to throw something to the dozen of bug crawling up but she had used every trap she made earlier. She place was way too hot for the silk she started to produce, melting it down and making it unusable. Her feets were burning, she was starting to shake and the only way to get out was to go through a crowd of bug that clearly wouldn't be gentle with her broken body. In a last attempt of escape, she jumped onto a bug's head but tripped because of the weird bell covering it. And before she understood anything, the poor little Weaver was shoved into the ground by numerous hands, forced to stay onto the burning hot rocks that was already making her whole body spasming because of the pain.

"Let go of me !! Don't touch me !!"

But the bugs didn't listen. They never did. Grasping her limbs to make sure she wouldn't be able to escape, trying to bend them in pretty painful ways to completely destroy her only chance to make it.

"Arrrh ! Stop-"

With each bug taking a different part of the poor spider, they began to raise her and slowly walked with the powerless girl.

"Please, please I can't ... I can't just die yet ! I have to ... To ..." 

Her body began to loose any type of control. She was starting to black out, shivering and fighting for consciousness. But she clearly regained control once she was violently shoved into the ground but an unknown force. She shivered and took the rest of her energy to get back onto her legs. She raised her head and saw it. She saw Lace. 

The mysterious lady was jumping around with an incredible agility, destroying the ones that hurt Hornet one by one. And once done, she turned around to face the small spider. 

"Why ... Did you do that ..?"

Lace looked at the bodies and back to Hornet, and stuttered, blushing. 

"I was- ... It was just that I had to make sure thoses guys were out of the way ! I was going by and I - well I- ... I just had to clean up the passage for me to be sure to stay around without theses guys. You're just lucky that I was around, that's all."

Hornet took a bit of time to regain complete power of her limbs, and slowly walked to Lace with her needle in hand. 

"... Thank you." 

The pin user jumped onto one of the platforms, rushing to get out of the place, leaving Hornet and the numerous unconscious bodies alone. The little spider took a few seconds to regain her breath and remembered one thing. A safe place. She had to find a safe place as quickly as possible because if she was attacked only once more she would probably fall from exhaustion. She quickly jumped onto the nearest rocks, made her way to the top of the room and took a bit of time to get through the lava without being hurt. She rushed to the bench she had in view, layed her body down and let the loudest sight of relief of her entire life get out of her mouth. What was that. What the actual hell was that. First, the sect chased her. Second she got captured and completely freaked. And last, DID LACE JUST SAVE HER ?! Didn't she wanted to kill her or something ? Why would she do that ? Her answer was too vague not to be a lie. But why would she lie too ?! Did she had something to hide ?! 

... Really, Hornet was completely lost about Lace.  
But something in her shell whispered that Hornet definitely was going to give that help back one day.


	2. Chapter 2

Lace always hated Bonebottom. But to be fair, Bonebottom also seemed to hate her.  
It was the kind of place where everything you see could either hurt you or burn you to death if you stayed close too long. What a pleasure. Every inhabitant knew about Lace. And of course, they weren't going to praise her. She was a criminal. She was one of the last bug who haven't joined the cult and that was enough for her to be actively researched by the whole kingdom, but to destroy the cult's plans ? That was probably the worst thing she could have done for her reputation.  
The fact was, she clearly didn't went to Bonebottom by choice. A spider had been captured and escaped lately and was in the place, so she has no choice but to hunt her. Sadly, the poor thing was strong enough to defeat her in a fair battle. Lace wanted to kill her as quickly as possible to make sure she wouldn't end up like the other weavers, but she clearly had failed. So now she was stuck in Bonebottom at least for the time to escape without being caught, and had failed her only plan.

But something was bothering her, something that she had a pretty hard time to admit to herself. That little spider, Hornet as she was called... She couldn't get her out of her mind. After that fight, that defeat, the image of the powerful warrior was printed onto her mind and couldn't be erased. She convinced herself that at first, it was because she was strong enough to defeat her, but that wasn't entirely true. The fact was ... She cared about her. She cared about her well being. It was weird to put it like that, and of course she cared about her well being : she offered her death because it was mercy compared to how the spiders were treated by ... Them. But she was thinking more and more about how she was in general. Was Hornet hurt ? Stressed ? Maybe even dead ? She hoped she wasn't. Lace wanted ... She wanted her to do something where too many had failed before. She wanted Hornet to escape and be safe. From that moment she escaped from her pin, Lace hoped that Hornet will be safe and will reach the top of the world. 

But that hope was shattered in pieces when a voice Lace recognized pierced through the rooms of lava.

"Let go of me !! Don't touch me !!"

That was Hornet. Hornet was in danger. How could she be in danger ? She was so powerful, so ... No she couldn't. It must have been a daydreaming. Lace bit her fingers, she must have stayed focused onto her task and stop thinking about-

"Arrrh ! Stop-"

... This wasn't daydreaming.  
Oh great. So now the little spider she got attached to was going to get captured once again and be imprisoned and used her entire life. What could be wrong about that except, oh, everything ?!  
Lace rushed to the room where the noises were coming from. A bunch of bellheads were forcing Hornet onto the burning ground to capture and transport her more easily. It was kind of heartbreaking to watch. But Lace couldn't do anything about it. She clearly wasn't going to risk her own life just for-

"Please, please I can't ... I can't just die yet ! I have to ... To ..." 

At that moment, Lace's body moved on its own. Maybe it was stupidity ? Heroism ? Some kind of link between the girls ? In any way, she wasn't able to control her movements anymore. She jumped right onto the pile of stupidly stacked bellheads, grabbed Hornet and shoved her as far as she could. Clearly she wouldn't be happy about the ground she just received into her face, but that was necessary to make sure the spider wasn't going to be hurt. Lace rush right onto the bellheads to make sure they weren't prepared enough for another attack. Theses guys were really annoying and couldn't be killed nor defeated by normal methods. The trick was to throw the pin right under the bell and push it inside as hard as possible. If you were lucky enough it was able to kill the opponent instantly. If you weren't it would at least make them loose enough control to be flinched and make them loose consciousness a few seconds after.  
Lace was fast, way too fast for theses idiots. Still, she was largely outnumbered and it took her a bit of time to make them all unable to get up. It was much, much more stressful and tiring than she thought but ... At least she and Hornet were safe now. Wait, what was she thinking ? She always was safe, Hornet was the only one in danger here ! Why did she do that ?  
The fencer slowly turned to face Hornet, realizing that she regained her consciousness during the fight. She spider raised a little voice, still unable to get up.

"Why ... Did you do that ..?"

Lace looked at the bodies and back to Hornet, and stuttered, blushing. 

"I was- ... It was just that I had to make sure thoses guys were out of the way ! I was going by and I - well I- ... I just had to clean up the passage for me to be sure to stay around without theses guys. You're just lucky that I was around, that's all."

Lace watched the small spider raising herself without a noticeable weakness, yet hidden by a strong will to look powerful. She walked towards the white lady, making a small bow.

"... Thank you." 

The pin user jumped onto one of the platforms and rushed out of the room, not even responding to the one she just saved. A few rooms later, Lace clenched her teeth and sighed. She didn't understand the reason why her body just reacted like that. She had no reason to risk her life for something so useless. Yet ... She didn't regret anything. If she had the choice again she would probably rush to rescue that little spider again. How confusing. How intriguing.  
One thing was sure at least : Lace even more obsessed with this creature.  
And she had no idea about how to feel about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a few ideas for the chapters that will follow but to be fair I'd gladly take your suggestions if you have some ! I'd like to make this fic a bunch of little stories about thoses two that makes them closer and closer.


	3. Chapter 3

"Urgh ... I hate this place..."

"Really ? To me it looks wonderful ! I mean look at thoses colours, you could at least appreciate the view !"

Hornet was scratching the ground with her needle, trying to calm herself down from the stress she felt. The coral forest was indeed a beautiful place but everything felt so out of place to Hornet. Theses bright colours, little coral pieces that destroyed her feet and the enemies everywhere ... It was too much infos for Hornet's already lost small head. 

"Yeah it is nice Shakra but... I think I have too many bad feelings about the place to appreciate it. You're lucky to see it with a positive view, it looks nice to just ... Wander around and make things you appreciate in the place."

"Well, I do not appreciate everything in Pharloom and I'm not here entirely by choice. The choice I made was to try to see this kingdom with a good eye, so that positivity will turn into something better."

"I guess ... I guess I can do that. Thank you Shakra. It might not seem like much but you're really helping."

"I did not do anything special except repeating you what I've learned from my master, Hornet. It is just up to you to think of it as a help."

Hornet nodded and shoved her needle back into its case. She had to think of good things that happened to her lately. She got to meet new allies, and honestly, she couldn't ask for much more in this environment. And there was this time where Lace saved her. She wasn't sure why exactly but ... She saved her.   
Lace really was ... An interesting person. It was hard for Hornet to get her out of her mind, even if they met only twice. Her grace, her movements, her voice ... Hornet was weirdly hypnotised by all of it. Yet, she still wasn't an ally and it would probably be a mistake to think so. 

"I'll try to get to the next area, I took enough rest. Take care Shakra !"

"Take care of yourself as well, little one. I hope we meet again in our respective quests."

Hornet jumped right onto the hole that she observed all of this time, preparing herself to anything down there. Danger or wonders, what would she see into the unknown ?

Yet ut seemed danger was just linked to Hornet. 

"... Are you fucking kidding me."

A gigantic vividly coloured shrimp with the biggest claws Hornet ever saw screeched and turned out to face the young Weaver. The room was filled with piles of half-eaten up bodies, a weird smell of Ash and ...   
Lace. 

Lace was lying down near the creature, apparently having some problem with one of her legs. She was huffing, trembling and looked at Hornet with some kind of pitiful face. 

"Of all people why did the gods send me this little spider ?"

Hornet took a deep breath but didn't got the time to make anything before the shrimp charged towards her. The Weaver jumped towards Lace, looking for some kind of information. Because anything could be useful in that kind of moment. 

"What the hell is that ??" 

"It's a mantis shrimp, also known as a "little annoyance"."

Lace quickly got up only her legs, shaking but stable, and immediately looking at Hornet with a serious look into her face.

"Okay so here's the thing. We team up to kill the mantis shrimp together. No fighting against each other or anything. Because trust me, this thing won't spare your life."

The creature seemed to agree with Lace's speech, immediately trying to grasp the bug once it landed onto a pile of bellhead corpses.

"Okay, okay, we'll team up. But if you don't respect your word I'll make sure to get needle into your throat !" 

"Understood, little spider."

"I'M NOT-"

Hornet quickly understood that arguing wasn't the best idea since a claw almost reached her shell when she opened her mouth. She decided that the best defense would be attacking, and she jumped onto the creature and stabbed it a few times with her needle, confusing it for a few seconds. Still this wasn't enough to make it stop any kind of movements, and the shrimp threw itself onto a wall, almost crushing entirely Hornet. Thankfully her needle was resistant enough to give her space between the two massive thing surrounding her. 

"Hey fella ! If you think exposing your belly is the right idea, then go on~"

Lace rushed next to the creature and thrusted her nail into the exposed belly of the creature, making it scream of pain and go back to its initial position. Hornet quickly grabbed her needle back and jumped next to her partner. 

"The eyes."

"Huh ?"

Both girls jumped at the same time as the creature dashed towards them. 

"Hornet ! Go for the eyes ! It's their weakness, I don't think it's able to localize us in any other way !" 

Hornet gasped and nodded, jumping into the ceiling to try to get a better angle for her attack.  
The creature screeched and punched the wall in an attempt to kill Lace, destroying partially the room it was staying into. 

"Oooh so you're interested in me huh ? C'mon c'mon, if you want to attack me go on ! I'm right here, idiot !"

Lace approached the beast more and more in an attempt to make it completely focused onto her, which worked pretty well. Still, after a bit of running, Lace's injured leg gave up and made her stumble and trip onto the ground right in front of the creature. 

"Hornet ! Now !"

"Got it !"

Hornet jumped onto the beast's head, stabbed the right eye of it and quickly stomped on the left one. The creature tried to shake its head as hard as possible, yet Hornet stayed in place with the help of her silk. In a violent movement, the creature slammed its head onto the ground, making Hornet loose control and get down. But the creature made a fatal mistake. Hornet got up slowly, rubbing her shell and turning to see the beast impaled onto Lace's pin, laying dead onto the ground. 

"We ... We did it ?"

"Y-yeah I think so ? I think we're alive ?"

Hornet rush to observe the beast's body, trembling with the mere thought of ending up like the numerous bodies found into the chamber. 

"Woaw ... We made a pretty good team I think ?"

"Haha, yeah, you did pretty great- Ouch !" 

Hornet flinched and turned around to see Lace laying onto the ground, trembling. 

"Hey ... Are you okay ?"

"Wha- oh yeah. Yeah yeah I'm okay. Don't worry, it's nothing."

Hornet seemed very not convinced by Lace's words. 

"I'm pretty sure not being able to walk and being okay aren't things you can put together."

"What do you mean ? I'm able to walk, don't worry about it, I swear it's nothing !"

"Then walk."

"Huh ?"

"If you want me to leave you alone, just show me that you can walk."

Lace's grin disappeared as she looked at the ground and slot tried to get up, trembling and immediately falling down. Luckily she was caught by two careful arms. 

"I've seen enough. You're coming with me, Lace."

"But I-"

"Listen, I don't care if you like it or not but I owe you one and I'll be mad if you end up being killed just because you were stubborn and wouldn't accept the fact that you were severely hurt. So now you either shut up and let me help you or I'll just cover your mouth and limbs with silk and transport you like a baby Weaver, understood ?"

Lace closed her eyes and slowly got onto Hornet's back without much of a resitance. 

Shakra was right, this part of the king was indeed beautiful.   
All of Hornet had to was to forget about the corpses lying around and think about someone she cares about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I think this was my very first time writing action so I really hope it's not too bad.


	4. Chapter 4

"Why do you keep coming back ?"

"Urgh ... Why don't you just shut up and accept my help ?"

It has been a bit of time since the fight with the giant shrimp. Not too long, but enough time to see Lace's attitude change a lot. After her injury, Lace had been transported to a safe place by Hornet, which took as much care of her as she could. Hornet was still traveling around but made sure to come regularly visit Lace to bring her food and talk a bit for her not to die if boredom. Even if she seemed to slowly get better, Lace's behavior towards her helper was getting weirder and weirder. She almost begged the spider to leave her be, even if she obviously wouldn't make it alone, almost getting aggressive to chase her away. 

"Why do you still want me around ?! What do you gain from it ?! I don't get it ! I will NOT help you after this. I'll try to kill you again. Do you understand that ?"

"I won't stop you from doing that even if I clearly would appreciate to not have another thing chasing me, Sharpe is enough. Still you saved me once before, twice if I count when you broke your leg."

"Like I said it was NOT on purpose !"

Hornet clearly was not convinced.

"Stop looking at me like that ! I don't need your pity !"

"Look Lace, I'm not having pity towards you because I know you'll be able to stab me if you had your pin a little closer to your hands. No I'm doing this because I respect you as a person and I think it would be stupid that you die just because you can't reach anything to eat."

Hornet really didn't want her rival to die. Which was kind of ironic because she wanted to end her life. Hornet deeply cared about Lace even if she wasn't sure why. Even if their interactions were mostly small talks she always appreciated it. Something about Lace was sort of ... Attracting her. So she couldn't just let her go. 

And the most ironic thing about the situation was that Lace was doing all of it to find an excuse not to kill Hornet. If she was dead she would not be a burden to her and she wouldn't be able to stop her from getting out of this damn place. But how could she tell Hornet that she cared about her when all of she said was related to the fact that she would feel better as a lifeless body ? How could any kind of relationship around death could be non-toxic ? It was just ... Impossible.   
So Lace continued to lie about her plans, hoping Hornet would finally leave her be. 

"D-do not touch me, spider ! I'll bite you !"

"Yeah yeah, like you promised me to do the last time and the time before. I need to see your leg to properly heal it. Just try not to move around too much for once, the shorter it'll last the shorter you'll have to whine about me hanging around. That'll probably make you happy if you hate me so much, huh ?"

Lace bit her lip. It clearly wasn't the fact that she hated her. How could she hate someone so kind yet so powerful ? She had been taking care of her like a hatchling and never complained about Lace's actions nor her words. It was even harder to accept this kind of comments after that.

Hornet wasn't happy either with her comment. Imagining that Lace hated her stinged like a wasp. But Hornet couldn't help it, she would never force Lace in any kind of relationship with her. She would help her recover and that would be the end of it. Nothing more after that. She'll try to slay her until she finally gets out of Pharloom and never sees the fencer again.   
The thought of it ... Hurt. 

After finishing the bandages, Hornet sighed and sat in front of her rival.

"Hey Lace ..? I know you don't want to hear that but ... You don't have to look strong all the time. I really don't know what you're thinking of right now but I swear that trying to look like you don't care about staying alive will only make things worse."

What was she saying ? Why did theses words escaped from her mouth ? Why couldn't she stop ?

"You have the right to be weak Lace. Hiding it won't solve anything."

Lace's look suddenly changed from particularly aggressive to something undescribable. Was it fear ? Surprise ? Maybe pain ?

"No ... I don't."

"Of course you do. That's your choice."

"I said I don't !" 

"But you're free, why do you force yourself to be so perfect when it only makes you hurt ?!"

"I CAN'T !!"

Lace's body started trembling as she crawled against a wall, slowly gripping her knees.

"You don't understand who I am, why do I do things, why can't I change my attitude, why I can't be weak, why I can't be hurt !!!"

Hornet got back onto her feet, approaching slowly the trembling body. Of all possible reactions this was probably the least expected one to her. 

"Nothing here is your ally ! Nothing here wants anything good to others ! You're either part of the cult, a slave to the cult, or dead !! Why do think I would try to kill you ?! For fun ?! Why do you think I would better be alive after trying to kill you ?! Why must you keep me alive after so many threats ?!"

The white lady started to sob, trying her best to stay in a curled position while not touching her damaged leg. Hornet slowly sat next to her, not really knowing what to do. This was certainly a situation she did not expect, particularly after spending so much time with her aggressive way of acting. But the truth was, it was just acting. Lace didn't want any of that. Lace knew Hornet didn't want any of that. But she had to be strong or else she would have failed. 

"... Listen Lace. I ... I don't know what I should tell you. Maybe you have good reasons to just stay strong most of the time but I don't see why do you have to fake it right now. I have no judgement over your actions since you aren't in a state for any kind of battle, both physically and mentally. I will help you no matter what. And I do not care of what your actions might be after that. Maybe you do have a really good reason to think that I would be better dead. But I think that my reasons to stay alive are more important. You're not the only one attacking me in this place. In either way, I will fight. That does not mean I'm not weak however. It just means that I'm determined."

Lace's erratic voice finally rose after a moment of silence. 

"... What if I told you that I would prefer you to be safe, but I know that it is not possible ?"

"Then I would ask you why would it be impossible."

"... So many ... Tried before. None ... None ... No one returned. Everyone was annihilated... I wanted to trust them ... Everyone ... I did not want that ... I wanted them to ... Death would have been so much better for them ... They would have been safer ... They ... Not ..."

Lace's voice became less and less recognizable, words turning into senseless whimpers as her head slowly got foggy. Slowly taking the frail body onto her arms, Hornet looked at her rival, and wondered if she could somehow be helped with her own mind.


	5. Chapter 5

It's been two days since Lace's full recovery. And two days she left Hornet.  
After melting down and passing out in Hornet's arms, Lace suddenly became a lot calmer. She stopped any kind of aggression towards Hornet. No, she just stopped giving any kind of response. She just let herself be handled by Hornet without any other way of communication than nodding. And one night, after Hornet fell asleep, she just ... Vanished.  
Even if taking care of her rival slowed significantly down her progression, Hornet couldn't help but feel melancholic. Having Lace waiting for her everyday was pretty reassuring giving her situation. It wasn't someone she could trust, but more someone she wanted to trust. And with time passing by, it felt like the feeling was reciprocate. 

Still, Hornet's journey continued. Fighting more and more everyday, with hopes of getting out of this cursed land. Fights against the cult were very very tricky. Infected bugs were very aggressive but mindless, slaves to the Radiance that only followed the simple instruction of attacking. The members of the cult were under some kind of weird force too, but clearly weren't mindless. They had strategies, plans, and we're organized to hunt and capture every spider they could get. And since Hornet was the only one free in the kingdom, they were particularly persistant. Their strategy was simple : attack constantly without stopping until the poor princess finally breaks. But Hornet wasn't stupid and easily tricked them to get the rest she needed. Still ... Another problem persisted. 

That problem was a trio made of black and silver that wouldn't leave the poor weaver alone.  
And that day, Hornet found herself in one of their traps one again. 

"Sharpe ... For Wyrm's sake can't you leave me the fuck alone ?!" 

"I will. Once your lifeless body will be in my hands, I'll leave it alone."

Hornet knew that this discussion wasn't going to stay "friendly" for very long. In a quick movement, she grabbed her needle and threw it onto the ceiling before letting herself down at full speed onto the assassin. Sharpe jumped right in time to get a quick attack onto the princess before snapping his fingers, getting his associates ready for battle. Hornet jumped on the walls and quickly used a needle and some silk to get rid of one of the grunts, but the second one quickly reacted and blocked her onto the ground, weaponless. She tried to raise herself up, yet the weight of the body made out of pure metal was too much for her fragile shell. Sharpe approached and she quickly hissed, using her 3rd pair of limbs to finally move the metal creature and dash towards the exit, leaving a pool of soil behind. The acolyte got thankfully stuck, yet the little trap clearly wasn't enough to stop the well trained assassin, which jumped over the white substance and dashed before the spider. He grabbed her neck, she hissed and bit as hard as she could the arm that held her yet ... It was useless. Her poison, running down her fangs, slowly dripped over the shiny armour that the hunter wore. She yelped, trembling, yet nothing was possible anymore. She was definitely trapped.

"It won't be painful, trust me. Just close your eyes and everything will be over."

Hornet continued to hiss and desperately struggled yet ... Nothing was to be done. And for the first time in her journey, Hornet gave up. She just gave up. After one last desperate head shake, she slowly layed her shell on the ground and closed her eyes. She did everything she could and the last thing Hornet wished for was to suffer even more at her last breath. 

Yet, something unexpected happened. She didn't saw it coming, neither heard but she definitely felt it. The weight on her body suddenly disapeared and her first reflex was to get up and jump as far away from the danger that left for whatever reason. When she reopened her eyes, she saw the two grunts on the ground, Sharpe close to a wall and a white figure. 

"I don't know who you are, but if you get in my way I'll kill you with her."

"I do not mind your little threat yet what I do mind is the fact that you dared to lay a hand on this spider. I demand you to cease this battle or else you'll have to face me as well, your choice."

"Just tell me your side on this battle or I will not spare your life."

Lace didn't answer and jumped towards the armored bug before swinging her pin to the unprotected parts of her foe. He answer with a quick slash that was just close enough to rip a part of Lace's clothes without actually damaging her body.

"I do not have a "side", yet I know one thing. I will certainly not let this spider get killed that easily."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wrote this chapter thinking of Lace seeing Sharpe threatening to kill Hornet and being like "HEY ONLY I GET TO DO THAT FUCK OFF"


	6. Chapter 6

The assassin flinched for a second, starring at the white lady that was standing in his way. The one who bought that spider's death was sure that she had no ally on the land of Pharloom, and it would have been way too difficult for her to get people to actually risk anything for her well being.  
So ... Who was she ?  
Sharpe clearly didn't wait for any kind of answer. That little girl was another problem for him and that was all he needed to know. He dashed towards the white bug, and made some quick and clear moves to try to get her on the ground as fast as possible. He missed every single one of his moves and ended with a golden pin a few millimeters close to his shell, barely even understanding what was going on. Her moves were very precise, yet she was definitely self-taught. It was pretty impressive. 

"Lace, watch out !"

The white bug barely had the time to get down that one of the assassin's associates threw his body throughout the room, almost destroying the poor girl's shell. Sharpe was focusing on keeping her occupied while the others were clearly trying to kill her in one move. Hornet jumped towards Lace, grabbed her arm and took her needle. 

"Okay new plan. Hold tight."

"Wha- ?"

Hornet dashed towards the exit, threw her needle as far away as possible and flew away from the room, leaving the mad assassins behind.

Hornet ran to the closest safe place there was without ever letting go of Lace, and immediately collapsed once she took a step onto the cavern, gasping for air. She wasn't as injured as Lace thought, yet she clearly was exhausted. 

"Hornet, you ... I really don't know what to say, I'm sorry. Are you at least alright ?"

Only huffing for an oral answer, Hornet nodded. 

"I didn't expect you to last this long against theses guys with your actual state."

"I was weak."

Lace sighed

"No. You were just not able to fight 3 people skilled to kill at the same time which is completely normal even for a person like you."

"So what ? Are you suggesting I should train to fight gang of assassins ?"

"No. I suggest that you get someone to help you with it."

Lace stared at the ground, Hornet stared at Lace.

"Are you-"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm telling you that I want to join you on your quest. Here, happy ?"

"But I thought-"

"Yeah well I thought too and I think I'm too tired to see spiders getting squished just because they want to, you know, be alive ? I killed people before because I knew that even with help they wouldn't make it. But you ? Look at you. Do you even know how many creatures you've destroyed in your way without actually facing any difficulties ? I don't think you've counted and that's my point. You just need a backup in case things go wrong. And that's where I come in."

"Won't you get arrested if they see you with me ?"

For a second, Lace's serious face completely disapeared, replaced by a genuine laugh.

"You though I was with THEM ?! Hornet !! I killed the spiders they were supposed to use and destroy their forces each time I see theses stupid hotpot-looking dudes walking around ! Why the hell would they want me in ?!"

"... So you're a fugitive, just like me."

And her laughter stopped as quickly as it came.

"... Yeah. Just like you. I don't live for having a place or anything anymore, I'm just ... Here. The cult wants to kill me. The spiders I'd like to put to sleep wants to kill me. I think it's best if for once I do something that pleases someone."

Hornet, slowly regaining her forces, approached the white bug which seemed a lot less tense than before. She was ... Weaker. 

"Hornet ... Can you promise me something ?"

"... Yes ?"

"Don't die. I'm begging you."

Hornet smiled. She felt something about Lace, something that she couldn't describe with words. But she knew this feeling was telling her that she needed this. She needed someone to be with her, someone she could trust. A friend. 

"Don't worry about that. I wasn't planning to, trust me."

Lace slowly hugged Hornet's chest. Even if she did it before, it still was a very, very weird thing to witness. Lace was always so strong looking, felt so distant with her emotions ... It certainly was something, to see her so emotional. Lace certainly wasn't happy being seen in her true colours. Yet ... She felt like it wasn't worth it to hide it this time. She was broken, weak, and lost. And someone was able to help her deal with it. 

So for the spider she spared, she let herself be weak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya ! Just a little reminder, if you like this fic please don't be afraid to comment. It might not seem like much but it really really helps for motivation and you'll get chapters quicker, it's a win win <3


	7. Chapter 7

Hornet was always a lot more at ease with dark places. It felt safe to her, even if she had no idea of what could be hiding in some corner. It reminded her of her home, deepnest. It was a very pleasant feeling to get, in a place so far from the kingdom she was supposed to guard. Even if the bell caverns were small, they were more than enough to wander around in the kingdom without being noticed, which was a true plus for two girls being chased by an entire kingdom. 

"I still don't get how you can see in a place like this, Hornet. It would have been much easier to just bring my flies and lit the place up."

"It would have been easier but it would also have ruined the whole purpose of us traveling here. If someone sees a light, they'll notice us right away. I'm more than able to guide both of us through the caverns, so there should be not problems, right ?"

"... Still..."

Even if Lace did asked to join Hornet on her quest, she clearly wasn't totally confortable with everything the spider did. It was something to be expected. Two lone travelers making suddenly a team when each had their little rituals and ways of working was pretty odd, and difficult to cope with. Yet, Lace mainly followed Hornet without making too many complains nor truly question her choices. Even if Hornet quickly understood that their way of traveling was clearly different, and she appreciated that her new partner took attention not to get in her way for her actions. 

"We're already out of the tunnels, see ? It wasn't really long."

"I guess ... Do you go often in dark places like this or ...?"

"Well kinda, it's very practical and not a lot of people check theses tunnels in Pharloom so it gives us a safe place to be."

"Oh great ..."

Hornet never understood how could some people not like dark places. But, everyone wasn't from deepnest.

"The little destroyed chapel over here looks pretty abandoned. We should check if we can spend the night there."

Lace simply nodded and followed, like always. The white bug clearly didn't loose any of her pettiness, but she clearly stayed a lot more quiet than before. She seemed stressed. Hornet had no idea why she was acting this way, and her lack of social skills compelled her to just accept it and don't risk anything with asking her the reason of her acting. Hornet already got her by her side by some kind of miracle, she clearly wouldn't risk her to leave now that she finally wasn't a foe of hers. 

"Little spider, do you know what you will do once you get to the capital ?"

"I-I ... I'm really not sure. All that I know for now is that I have to defeat several people there to be able to get out. I'll try to gather informations in the city itself, it will probably be a lot more simple."

"And do have any idea where you would rest during that time ? It'll take days to gather informations, and trust me you won't be able to just sleep anywhere like you do, once in the city."

"Uh ... No I don't ... Sorry."

Lace sighed and grinned.

"You really are mess, aren't you ? You almost died several times yet haven't learned the basics of staying in Pharloom ?"

"H-hey ! I'm here to get out as soon as possible, not to be a tourist ! How could I have known that when no one told me about it before ?!"

"We'll stay at my place then."

"Huh ?"

"I have somewhere to go in the city. It's a tad old and I haven't got there since forever but I guess it'll do the job ?"

"Don't they know it's your place ?"

Lace stopped walking and looked at the ground. She seemed deeply disturbed by that question.

"They're hoping I'm rotting somewhere in the deep docks right now. They chased me out of the city once in hopes of killing me. I have no doubts that they won't check there."

"I-I see ... Well thank you for telling me about it."

"I should be useful at least once, shouldn't I ?"

Lace seemed to feel guilty, in one way or another, even if she had no real reason to. 

The duo quickly arrived to the place they seeked, an old chapel surrounded by numerous plants that destroyed a good part of the place. Surely, no one had been in the place for a pretty long time.   
The place wasn't especially welcoming, but the moss on the ground was a lot more confortable than dirt, and having a roof over their head always felt safer. 

"I'll go hunting to get something for tonight. Do you think you can guard the place until I come back Lace ?"

"Of course little spider, what makes you even think that I couldn't ?"

"You might be tired or something, I don't know !"

"You clearly underestimate me, dear ~" 

Lace grinned like usual. It was always to see her true intentions in theses kind of moments, but Hornet believed that she at least knew what she was doing. 

The hunt was clearly a lot more difficult than it should have been. Hornet was lost with all of the new creatures she discovered in Pharloom. Hallownest's moss creepers tasted delicious, whereas every moss creature of Pharloom felt like ash in mouth. Hornet was never picky about her food but she seeked something at the very least edible without making her nauseous. And finding something like that wasn't as easy as it seemed. Hornet had no idea how long she took to get back at the chapel, but she was pretty sure that it would have been more than enough for anyone to fall asleep. 

"Lace ! I'm back, sorry for being so late !"

No answer. Hornet was a bit surprised, yet she understood that Lace must have been tired. She entered the place only to be greated by a large roar. 

A gigantic creature jumped towards the spider, shoved the spider onto the ground, stopping her from getting any way of escaping. 

"Argh ! What the-" 

The spider hissed and did her best to bite her opponent, with no success. 

"L-Lace !" 

The desperate spider tried to look around, fighting against the opponent's grip to move her head and seek help. 

No one. No one to help. Lace simply had vanished. 

The bug gripped Hornet by her cloak, hold her with their two massive hands and started to rise her whole body up. Hornet started to produce silk for any kind of help needed yet it was way too late. She was violently shoved onto the ground. 

And everything turned black.


	8. Chapter 8

When the spider woke up, she took a while to fully understand the situation.   
First of all, she was in a black room. She tried to move around, but her limbs were locked with multiple chains. She was completely powerless, only able to feel the fact she wasn't touching any kind of floor. She slowly tried to calm herself down : stress was a normal reaction but didn't bring any good to it. Hornet was trapped, with no visible way of escape. First of all, she had to think. Why was she here ?

Oh yes. Something completely knocked her out when she tried to access the place she chose to rest. The question was, how ? How did they find her ? Did they have something to track her ? Was the place too obvious of a shelter ? Or maybe ... 

Maybe it could have been Lace. 

Hornet grunted. Lace was someone she didn't knew for long but she wanted to believe in her. She did save her. Twice. She could have easily took theses opportunities to catch her and she didn't, so it would be very weird for her to just do a full 180°. Yet, Lace wasn't there when Hornet was capture. Perhaps...

The spider didn't manage to think further as a door opened right in front of her, giving the room way too much light for her taste. Hornet slowly managed to understand what was going on around her. She finally saw a little moth, holding some kind of long wood lance with a little bell on an end. She was way too confused to say any words and just watched the bug starting to sing and ring the bell. After a minute, the bug removed the bell, put in onto the ground and opened a small bottle seemingly filled with nothing but air.   
But of course, that wasn't the case. 

Pheromones. This bottle was filled with spider pheromones, sending a message of pain and strong distress. Hornet tried to move her head to ignore the scent, but without any cloak nor limbs to protect her sensors, she could only panic even more. Hornet was completely out of her mind, blinded by so much feelings. The thought of having so many pheromones raised two ideas in her mind and none was good. One, if drugged like that, Hornet will probably break soon, mentally or physically. Second, if they got pheromones to use, it means that they had to get them first. 

After a few minutes of pure distress, Hornet finally understood what was happening to her. She was producing silk, a lot of it. And so much silk was exhausting to produce in such a short time. Weavers usually made silk out of pure empathy when they sensed one of their kind in a bad situation. Binding was usually a very effective way to help with injuries and might help to stop any creature causing them the problem. 

Sadly, there was so weaver to help around. Just the little bug, slowly collecting the silk on their lance without even taking a look at the spider.

Hornet hissed, shook her head and concentrated to make as much venom drop our of her mouth as she could. A few drips landed on the bug's head and slowly dissolved its fur. The moth took a step back, and slowly articulated to the outside. 

"This one is using their venom. I need a muzzle."

Loud stomps were heard a few rooms away and quickly arrived to the spider's, holding some kind of big metal piece. A strong muscular body. Yellow and black stripes. An wasp huh ? How ironic. A wasp against a Hornet. 

The creature grabbed one of Hornet's horn and forcefully tried to install it onto her head. The spider quickly understood what was going on and looked up, smacked the wasp's hand with her face and bit it with all of her might. The winged bug panicked, stumbled and broken one of the chain in their fall. Hornet saw this as her only chance. 

She used what she had left of silk bring her body out of the chains, jumped onto the ceiling and quickly bit the moth, forcing it onto the ground. The creature desperately flapped its wings but in vain, the poison was already far too deep into its organism. After making sure the one she just attacked wasn't able to move anymore, Hornet looked back at the stripped bug. It was still on the ground, yelling of pain. 

The spider knew her poison. The wasp will not die from it. It may loose its limb but it will not die. The moth, however ... She could not stop herself to think what theit fate will be. This was her enemy. They probably tortured numerous of her kind. 

She will show no mercy. Not anymore. 

The Weaver quickly escaped from the room, looking around from the ceiling to see if she might get noticed. 

A few bugs were around but nothing to worry about. Most of them were massive armored knight who probably were too stupid to access the ceiling if somehow she was noticed. 

The place was calm, way too calm. There was a scent of pain everywhere, but not a soul to express verbally their emotions. It was actually terrifying. A prison, where just a few guards and weird cultists were enough to contain not only physically but also mentally a whole species. Wyrm only knew how many spiders were trapped in this hell hole. 

But even with this terrific atmosphere, Hornet got out of her mind when she heard a scream. A scream she definitely recognized.   
Lace. 

Hornet dashed towards the sound, still gripping the ceiling to stay hidden. The room was near and the door was open, but she stopped herself. Getting in was not worth it. She could clearly hear what was happening from outside. 

"We know you have informations about the spiders that escaped. Stop lying"

A groan of pain accompanied the sentence, follow by a little laugh.

"Don't you get it ? I'm not saying I don't have infos. I'm saying that you won't get anything from me, no matter- Urgh!- how much you torture me" 

Someone snapped their fingers and another scream was heard. 

"You're pathetic. Anyone with a bit of sanity would have took our offer, yet you still refuse to just give us informations that doesn't even concern you."

"No. Anyone without a pride would have accepted. But I'm not anyone. I'll be against you until my last breath."

A pure silence lasted for a minute.

"Your execution will be at 6 p.m. If you want to think about your last breath so much, I think that now is the time."

Lace sighed, Hornet flinched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can and will end a lot of theses chapters with cliffhangers. You know me.   
> Also the silk collecting moemgn should have been way more graphic and painful to read but I know some people prefer softer things, you're welcome.


	9. Chapter 9

Hornet 9

This was an actual nightmare. Not only Hornet was trapped in hell but she somehow managed to bring her only true ally in her demise.   
The spider stared helplessly at the group of bugs getting out of the prisoner's room, still gripping firmly the ceiling in hopes not to be noticed. The door was locked by a bunch of chains, and guards were placed at the entrance as if it wasn't enough. It was weird that they guarded the prisoners with some much care while the spiders were barely watched, but it wasn't surprising with how broken weavers apparently were. 

Hornet jumped around and got out of the prisoner's corridors, starting to think of ... Something. Anything was good. Any plan could be good. Even if she needed to escape, it would be selfish not to consider what Lace had done for her in the past and just leave the bug behind. The problem was, nothing could help her in this place. If the weavers were trapped in chains for too long, they would obvious suffer because of their muscle atrophy and blood circulation problems, so a revolt would not be a good idea. If the prisoners were executed in such a short time, there was no way anyone powerful would stay alive long enough to help. And to end it all, Hornet was hungry, thirsty and definitely tired. She obviously couldn't make it on her own. She had to think. 

Wandering around the corridors, she started to check everything that might be useful. The cult was organized, but most of them seemed soulless. They acted like puppets, working without any mind to think more than just "extermine or capture the ones that are not with us". That could have been very useful if she had any idea of how much time she had to create any sort of plan. 

After walking for a while, Hornet heard a grunt. It seemed to belong to a sentient bug but didn't belonged to any species of the cult she'd meet yet. It ressembled a stag beetle's. She slowly walked towards the noise, checking regularly if not one was around.

And at the corner of a wall, she saw it. 

A gigantic black creature, attached with several chains and weirdly covered in silk, huffing and grunting, visibly exhausted. Their giant claws were easily bigger than Hornet's whole body, but were just hanging of their chained body in a quite pitiful manner. After thinking for a second, Hornet quickly understood that it was in fact the creature that attacked her before she was knocked out. She knew this body type from somewhere but couldn't remember what was it. 

The creature suddenly started to shake their body in violent movements, stopping in a few seconds, whimpering and trembling. A few drips of a white-ish liquid fell from their back. Blood. That was definitely blood. Hornet looked closer at where the blood could be coming from, since it seemed not to have been tortured nor attacked. Then she understood why there was so much silk around them. A scythe was attached to the creature's back, in a way that made the blade slowly enter the prisoner's flesh each time they moved their limbs. Hornet shivered at the thought of it, almost feeling the pain of the creature. 

Suddenly, the black body stopped, snorted and looked at the spider. Hornet flinched but quickly remembered that the creature wasn't able to make any move. They were starring like a predator, but didn't have any malice in their eyes. Only pain, and bit of curiosity. 

Hornet clenched her hands and thought a bit. It was risky but probably her only chance. 

"Do you have the ability to talk ?"

The creature may have screamed, alerted the guards, made her only chance disapear. Yet they stared and simply shook their hear. A no it was. Sad. But communication was still possible. 

"It's okay... I suppose you are with them ?"

The creature looked at their chains and looked back at the spider. 

"I'm ... Sorry. I forgive you for yesterday. You didn't have a choice I suppose. If you're trapped too I guess that makes us allies. I'm ... In a pretty bad situation."

The creature squeaked and tried to approach their head towards Hornet's, in an attempt to reassure her. Yet the silk made it difficult to move properly and only resulted in them grunting and shaking their four legs. 

Four legs. Three pairs of limbs. That's when it clicked. 

"You ... You are a scorpion aren't you ? An arachnid, like me ?" 

The creature slowly nodded, a long painful nod showing a apparent disgust for the word that was just used.

"That cult ... It's so much worse than what I thought ... Why do they keep attacking us ?! What did we do wrong ?! I'm just ... Just... So tired ... And nothing can help it..."

The scorpion shivered and looked at the ground. Hornet felt tears coming up her eyes, slowly letting her emotions overflowing her head. There was nothing to be done. Nothing, nothing, nothing. She was trapped, couldn't risk to help her only close friend in the whole kingdom and had no other allies.   
Wait

"Wait. Wait wait wait. Hold on for a second."

The beast grunted and looked at the spider with a curious face.

" Let's recap for a bit. You're on my side. You're an arachnid, like me, and you're pretty powerful and you have big claws and poison that can probably destroy a whole regiment."

The beast nodded, focused on the spiders's monologue like it was the last thing they will ever hear. 

"I think I have a plan. The best plan I can imagine. It would let me, you, and my friend have a good ending. Are you up ?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You see that ? You smell that ? Mmmh yeah something bad's going to happen.


	10. Chapter 10

Lace's prison made her feel like she was going crazy. Grey walls with a grey ground and metal chains keeping her body bent in a very painful way. Her mind could just wander around in circles, thinking about she could, no, should have done. She should have killed more members of the cult. She should have given more spiders a chance and helped them. She should have left a message for thoses who were lucky enough to escape. And most importantly ... She should have been able to protect Hornet. The bellheads that captured her were way too weak to beat her on her own, so why didn't she checked for possible allies ?! Of course they had a scorpion. That was an easy trap, so easy that it was infuriating. Her own stupidity changed Hornet's fate forever, leaving her trapped in a stupid room for a stupid ritual that was stupidly painful. Oh, she ended up making her own life meet an end too. Yet, Lace thought way too much of what she could have done or who she could have protected to care about herself. Everyone hated her so she just slowly learned to hate herself in the same way not to end up insane. Her worth was based on her capacity to save others, and she failed miserably, so her life was probably worthless. 

The white bug sighed, focusing way too much on the pain of her bent body. The chains were so cold she felt like she was starting to pass out. Bugs needed at least some warmth to fonction properly, or else they'll either start to sleep or simply die. Huh. It would certainly be ironic for her to die before her execution. She had no way to see how much time had passed. A few minutes ? A few hours ? She hoped her time would come soon enough. She couldn't bare thinking about all of the mistakes she had done.

Suddenly, a loud bang on the door, loud enough to get her out of her thoughts. She waited, waited ... Nothing else happened. Must have been her imagination. She was probably already going mad at this point. A muffled grunt resonated and a second, louder bang on the door, and finally a burst of light. She curved, hissing towards the brightness the just disturbed way too much her senses. 

"Lace ? Lace, can you hear me ?!"

Her head hurt. She did not recognized the voice. She shook her head, hoping it would help her get back to her senses. Suddenly, her body fell down, not retained by the chains anymore. She prepared for the ground to hit her body, but she felt two arms catching her gracefully instead. She slowly opened her eyes to catch a bright red flooding her vision. 

"H-Hornet ...?"

"Oh thank goodness you're alright. Okay, we need to get out of here quickly, it's nearly 6 p.m. I have a plan for us to get out but we'll have to make it fast."

"Don't ...please don't bother taking me with you... I'll be too much of a burden. The chains cut my blood circulation in both my legs and arms and ... I'm clearly not able to walk. You can't transport me around, I'll just slow you down."

"Oh don't worry about that. I won't be the one transporting you for now. That's a part of the plan."

After hearing a deep grunt from behind her, Lace slowly turned her head to see a dark figure gently waiting. 

"So. I have little time to explain you everything to do. We'll probably have to make it a bit straight forward since you can't move around a lot but I'm sure it'll do it."

Lace nodded and started to listen, while the beast slowly walked to the door to look out for potential intruders. No one was around except the two knocked off guards. After a while, they turned back to see if everything was alright inside. 

"A-are you sure about it Hornet ? Hear me out, this is a great plan, but it looks very risqué to me ..."

"It's all or nothing. If it does work out, we'll be more than in a great position. You have to trust me on that one."

The white bug smiled and blushed 

"I ... I swear I trust you."

The main court of the temple was filled with many, many bugs. Of course it was. A public execution was always something that caught many bugs's interest. Especially with someone as known as the white killer herself. A simple yet deadly bug that destroy way too many plans of the cult all by herself. Everyone had heard of her. And everyone wanted to see her last seconds to appreciate their victory once and for all. 

"Where are the guards."

"I don't know sir. They were supposed to be here-"

"YES, THEY WERE. The bells have already rang. It's 6 p.m. Now, WHERE. IS. LACE."

A pretty large bug was waiting behind the curtains of the execution place, slowly destroying the floor with impatient movements of his claws. He knew Lace was in the temple. He knew she couldn't escape. But missing the time of her execution was a dishonor he couldn't stand. The cult had a very precise sense of timing. That was proof of their power, of their influence. If they missed something as important as this, their credibility was on the line. 

Suddenly, some steps were heard in the corridors. 

"Finally ! What took you so long ?! Know that you will clearly be reprimanded for this mis-"

They weren't exactly steps. In facts they were stomps. And the creature making them clearly wasn't going to stop itself. They dashed through the curtains, teared them appart and arrived on the scene. The whole audience gasped, seeing a white cloth and a red robe riding a dark beast roaring in a victorious manner. 

Hornet jumped off the creature, took a little thing out of her cloak and threw it as far as possible from her. The little red ball suddenly turned into a bright yellow colour before exploding in the middle of the crowd, causing a mass panick and probably a lot of damages. Still, she didn't stop in such a good time and and continuously threw countless bombs, making sure that most of the bugs were scattered and not coming towards her. After about a minute, she jumped back on the scorpion and grabbed Lace's shoulder before making the creature run through the now almost empty court, getting through the corridors and finally arriving to a massive door. Massive yes, but way too small to let the black creature through. Seeing the obvious, the scorpion stopped itself and yelped, almost letting its riders pass over his shoulders. 

"Dang it ! Hold on, hold on. We can do this. I know we can."

The creature grunted and shook its whole body, forcing the girls to get out of his back. 

"It's okay, please don't panick !"

The scorpion roared, making the construction itself shake, slowly raising its massive claws in the direction of Hornet 

"PLEASE DON'T !!"

Every single being in the temple heard her shouting theses last words. And the obvious ground breaking over the next attack. Everything that was left was a pool of blue thick blood, a beast panting and looking at the ground and a trembling white bug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang it does feel great to be the author and know what's coming. Such a shame that you all have to wait for next chapter ... :)


	11. Chapter 11

"The shouts came from here !!"

"Don't let them escape, kill the white bug at all costs !"

The bigger and better prepared troupes started arriving from everywhere in the temple. Bells were rang, weapons were taken, and a strong feeling of determination was surrounding the whole building. 

It was really a shame to see that everything was prepared for nothing. Everything that was left was a black creature panting, surrounded by shattered grounds. Little blue traces of blood were seen here and there but there was clearly no possible distinction of what was alive or not in the place. Because yes, if something was alive before the holes were made, it clearly wasn't anymore. 

Leading one of the biggest troupes, a antlion smiled and started to laugh uncontrollably, watched by the black creature and every other member of the troupes. After a little while, a moth raised her voice. 

"What is so funny ? What could even possibly bring you joy in such a catastrophic position ?"

"Lace is dead. Forever. We've won."

"We've lost a godly spider. A PALE BEING. How in the world can you not be mad ?!"

"We've also got our worst enemy destroyed once and for all. In besides, the Wyrm's daughter was never going to be ours. Her mind was too strong to be broken."

"How can you not be angry at this useless arachnid ?! It had one purpose. ONE."

She started at the scorpion with an angry eye.

"Yes. Its purpose was to capture spiders and kill enemies that were too powerful to control. The spider was obviously too powerful. It did much more than its job. We've lost countless soldiers to Lace. To say a few hundred would be minimizing our loss. And now ..."

The priest slowly touched the blood on the dirt, slowly mixing it with the ground it touched. 

"Now she's litteraly dirt. We won't have to think about this little pest ever again. Isn't it wonderful ?"

The laughing continued. And the moth sighed.

Lace slowly licked the lifeblood slowly dripping of her hand. She was in perfect shape yet the feeling of her clothing covered in blood wasn't something she appreciated, plus the substance felt like heaven for her empty stomach.

"I really don't get how did you get so much lifeblood seeds in such a short time."

"They had my cloak and I just had to get it back. they were stupid enough to just let everything inside of it be and not even hide my needle, so I just grabbed it. Inside my cloak I have more than enough things to survive weeks without eating, and lifeblood is the best thing to carry around. That's all."

"I'm ... Very impressed you came up with such plan. That was daring of you, I have to admit that. But you could have told me about the whole "Yelling like you were going to die" thing. I would have appreciated not to freak out for nothing."

"I thought it was obvious, we had to make them know that we were dying somehow."

"... Still"

After finishing to lick the blood out of her limbs, Lace finally stood up. 

"Okay little spider, now we're not stopping on such a good timing. We're getting at my place as fast as possible."

Hornet sank her teeth in a lifeblood seeds she had in hand, slowly absorbing the blue liquid. 

"Isn't it risky to just get to your house at the moment ?"

"Certainly not. They're sure we're dead and litteraly have no way to think we could have escaped, they're litteraly the exact opposite of paranoiac. You just have to look at how of many guards they have to keep the spiders locked down. No, I'm telling you this because we can't risk to stay around the temple without ourselves at least a little bit with all of the patrols around."

"Okay. Got it."

The spider finished drinking the blood of the poor little creature and dropped the body in the ground, getting ready to rush at least a little bit.

The two of them quickly arrived in a place far enough from the cult's temple, a simple little house hidden in a forest of moss. Lace slowly opened the door and started to take deep breaths. It smelled like home.

"I-is that really your house ? It is ... A lot bigger than I first thought. You know, since you are a fugitive ..."

"Don't worry about that sweetie, I just had it from before my "little problems" with the cult. Trust me for that, it's well hidden, enough for it not to be noticed in a good while." 

Hornet crawled around the place in a curiosity impulse, making her look a lot more childish. She never had a safe place since he arrived to the kingdom. She never had a place where she could just explore and be curious without having the risk of being attacked and dying in a stupid manner. It surely felt relieving to have a little moment of relaxation, plus Lace certainly enjoyed seeing her little spider just goofing around, probably forgetting that she was being watched.

"Lace ... You have a bed ?! Like a true bed with sheets and all ?!"

The weaver certainly didn't wait for an answer and jumped into the bed, letting her whole body down onto the sheets. 

"Heh, you look like you've never had a bed before. Is that really a first for you or are just being overdramatic ?"

"I- uh... I've been into beds before ! It just has been ... So long ... I don't think I was even able to remember how it felt ! It's just so soft and ... Comfy and ... It feels like home ..."

"Hornet, are you... Purring ?" 

The spider shivered and slowly put her hands onto her mask.

"Am I ?"

"I'm pretty sure that was purring yes. I had no idea you could even do that, that's so cute ! Does that mean you feel good or something ?"

"It's uh ... A bit more complicated."

"Well then explain ! You know I'm not the kind of person to judge."

Hornet looked around nervously, slowly put her hands on the sheets and covered herself with it, took a deep breath and began to talk.

"Sometimes spiders have a lot of trouble to ... Express their feelings. Even if we do have language it's always hard to say how we feel to the others and uh ... Sometimes we think that sounds are more appropriate. Well, it's not really like thinking, more of an unconscious kind of thing. The fact is, sometimes a spider feels that they want to be with that person for a little more time. Or maybe a lot of time. Or just spend their lifes together. You know, as a co- a duo. And purring means I ... Huh ... Consider you very close to me and I think that I can trust you enough to hear that I have weakness and so we can be a ... A duo."

"So... Does that mean you appreciate me ?"

The only answer Lace got was another purr, quickly stopped by a blushing Hornet grabbing her neck to stop the vocal cords.

"No please, let me hear it again ..."

Lace slowly rubbed her hand against her spider's shell, slowly letting her melt between her arms. Hornet's tense body began to let itself be vulnerable just for once, completly letting her instinct of seeking affection take control of herself. She smiled as her mind began to let go of everything she could have feared, and began to close her eyes.   
For the first time in ages, Hornet truly felt safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do we have a chapter that isn't a cliffhanger for once ? Maybe ?


	12. Chapter 12

The spider woke up surrounded by sheets and pillows, taking a few minutes to understand the situation she was in. No, this time she didn't fell into some kind of predator's trap. No, she wasn't hallucinating. She truly was in a place where she was safe. 

The spider yawned, letting her powerful fangs out of her mouth to stretch properly. She rubbed her eyes and got out of the comfiest place in Pharloom, and began to search Lace in the house. 

"Oh Hornet ! Good morning little morcel ~"

"Did you seriously added three blankets to your bed just for me to get comfy ?"

"Well yes, is there a problem with that ?"

"... No. Thanks."

Lace slowly took a sip of her tea and smiled. She looked at the window, observing the nature.

"I can't believe we have made it this far, but to actually make them believe that we're dead ?! This is beyond excellent. From now on we have all of the time we need to get a perfect plan."

Hornet's body strengthen itself. She punched the table and hissed. 

"Time ?! Oooh no we don't have that. People of my own kind are suffering every day, every hour, every minute and you have the audacity to tell me that we have time ?!"

"Listen, Hornet-"

"We certainly don't have time. I've one of their ceremonies. That was probably one of the most horrible things I've experienced in my entire life-"

"Hornet."

"They were all suffering, begging for help, trapped in this miserable place with no hopes of getting an escape nor-"

"Honey. Please." 

What...? What did she just called her ?

"I know that was horrible. And I'm really, really sorry for it. This situation was probably deeply traumatizing, and you will need help to get through it. But, as much as I know how difficult this is for all spiders trapped there, we can't risk to get too soon. We have the chance of our life, they are sure that we don't exist in this world anymore. We can't risk to just throw that chance away because your feelings yell that we have to do it soon. We will help them as soon as possible. But that doesn't mean we can do it now. Our priority will be to get informations."

"Informations huh ... I understand your idea for the moment, I really do but ... I feel very lost. How can we create a plan big enough to destroy their cult without getting their attention ? How can we get any kind of information ?"

"I have already a few things, we're not starting from nowhere, dear."

She snapped her fingers and a few lumaflies started to arrive around, snatching a few papers around the room and bringing them into the bug's hands. 

"Wait a second. If your lumaflies can do that, why couldn't they help you get out of the chains back in the cult's temple ?"

"First of all, I don't possess lumaflies, I just ask thoses who float around for their help. And obviously, the cult knows about me and killed every little glowing creature in the temple to make me completly powerless. And second, they're not used to move around big objects like chains. What they're good at is mostly destroying bindings or other magic-related things. Like the cage you were in for exemple."

"Wait. Wait. Are you saying you were the one who destroyed the seal of binding around my cage ?"

Lace exploded in laughter.

"Well of course ! Who do you think would be stupid enough to risk their life using little butterflies to save some random spider."

"I-I don't know ?! I really wasn't thinking of it at the moment especially with our first meeting."

"I litteraly was talking about saving you at that time. What else could be said ?"

"I wasn't concentrating about the whole saving part, more on the "she wants to stick her pin in my chest" part !!"

Both of the just laughed on the table, trying their best to get themselves ready to talk seriously again but clearly appreciating the tensionless moment. It felt relieving.

"Pfiew ... Aaah that was good. So, let's see what I have in stock."

The white bug slowly opened the rolled up pages of paper onto the table, revelling multiple maps and symbols. 

"So. Let's start with basics. What do you know about the cult. Dang it I should have obviously started with that when we started travelling together ..."

"They capture spiders. And take our silk. Also they have a thing with bells, I think ?"

"T-that's all ?"

"Well yes ! Don't expect me to know more when I was just caught randomly but a bunch of randoms in my own kingdom and brought back without even hearing of of them saying any word !!"

"Woaw that's... Pretty bad. Well, let's start with the basics then. The cult has problem not only with spiders, but with cheliceratas in general."

"Wait ... Is that why that scorpion was used as a slave ?"

"Exactly. They believe arachnids are inferior to other kind of bugs in general for some reason. Each species is usually used for their capacities, weavers being the most important because silk is something you can do a lot with. Other species are used depending on their abilities. Shepherd spiders are often guardians for hatchlings, Scorpions are fighters either for missions to kill enemies or to watch for potential intruders ... It's pretty varied."

"And ... Do you have any idea on how it could have started ?"

"That's my main problem for now. I know the species that started everything but I don't know how nor where to find more informations about them since they disapeared from any archives."

"What's their name ?"

"The horseshoe crabs."

Hornet shivered and looked at the plans, knowing already where everything could be going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo uuuh ... This fic started with little ideas but I kind of got into a way more detailed scenario that involves new species and all ?   
> I really am a sucker for detailed stories ain't I


	13. Chapter 13

"So yeah, now we're stuck with just that stupid name and no idea of how we could find any more infos."

"No we're not stuck. Not anymore."

"Say what now ?"

"I know about horseshoe crabs. They're deities worshipped in my tribe. Or at least, they were ... It would be better if they were still here to tell us more but we can't mourn on what's not happening. I know what they look like, what they can do and especially what could make people start a cult to stop them."

"What ?! Are you serious ?!"

"Yes. Yes I am."

"Well then don't stop in the middle of your explanations ! Please go on !"

"I was going to, calm down ! Okay. So the horseshoe crabs are very, very big aquatic cheliceratas. The live in lakes in multiple kingdoms and apparently would have power comparable to a Wyrm, but only under water. Which, obviously, makes them a lot less impressive. They have the possibility to create hive minds, but prefer to simply be nourished by a few believer's prayers rather than making a population of slaves. But, just like the Radiance is to be worshiped only by the moths, only people of their kind could nourish them."

"Who's Radiance ?"

"Ah, I forgot that not everyone knew about her ... Well, imagine a big moth that's powerful enough to destroy Hallownest just by herself."

"That's ... Actually terrifying."

"Yup. Now think about the cult. We have creatures that have the potential to destroy entirely that apparently live near or inside Pharloom. You just have to spread the word about it for a whole kingdom to be panicking."

"Yes but no one would gain anything from it. The kingdom would be just be scared and the horseshoe crabs would be feared."

"Not if our think like that. Just present yourself as a savior, explain to the bugs that you have the power to stop the thing that could be dangerous and here you go. Not only you have gods at your mercy but you can also control and brainwash a whole population and have free slaves as much as you want."

Hornet hissed at her own explaination. It was very farfetched but truly, it would easily explain everything. 

"With this kind of constant panick, only a bunch of pheromones would be needed to create almost mindless slaves that would require little no mental control on the daily to work."

"So. We've got our explaination for everything now. That's ... A lot more than what I've expected to find in such a short time. But good ! Good. Now we have much more informations on what can we do and how can we do it. We just have to think about it."

"I-it's only suppositions, Lace. Don't take my words for granted."

"I wouldn't. But ... I trust you. I trust your intelligence and your plans and ideas have been working for such a long time ... I can't bring myself to think that you'd be wrong." 

Hornet smiled and looked at her hands. Lace was right. They had much more than she thought. And with their knowledge combined and time they could probably find a definitive solution to the madness. That was something not to mess up with. 

"Okay, we will work for a plan but first of all, we, no, you need to get some rest."

"What ?! No I don't, I'm perfectly good Lace !"

We've arrived here at 7p.m I'd say ? You slept until 11 a.m. That's 16 hours in a row and you don't look that much better, Hornet. You need to get some rest if we want to be in perfect shape for our plan. Got it ?"

"I can fight perfectly even not at 100% of my capacity, that's not a problem ! You're caring way too much for me Lace."

"Yes I am. Because it seems like you don't care about yourself at all. And that's the problem here. It looks like you would break before anything if I didn't helped you once in a while. Hell, you would probably have died in Bonebottom if I didn't came to help you just because you forgot to heal yourself."

"That was just bad luck, I was reaching for a bench and theses dumb bells decided to somehow form a group and chase me."

"That doesn't change my point. You could have died that day. Or worse, you could have been captured. You are too careless."

"Huh, you can talk, you were to one refusing me any kind of help when you were obviously not able to stand on your own."

"Yes. That's because I, too, am careless. But for a whole different reason. I don't have anyone to care for me. You on the other hand ? You have siblings ! A family ! A whole kingdom even ! You can't compare yourself to me with that in mind ?!"

"Yes I can !"

"Oh yeah ? And in what honour ?"

"Because I care about you !

A silent filled the room, only broken by the flapping wings of a few lumaflies.

"You ... What ?"

"Oh come on don't make me repeat myself you've clearly heard ? Why do you think I've spent so many days trying to heal your leg ? Why do you think I've risked my life to save you back in the temple ?! You're not just my ally or some kind of stupid dummy that I throw into battle when I somehow need help ! You're my precioud friend ! I lo... I like you, very much ! So please, please don't put yourself down like that !"

Lace trembled, slowly approaching the shaking body of the spider. 

"I'm ... Sorry. Truly. I had no idea you felt like that ..."

"I know it's just ... Hard..."

Slowly petting her spider's shell, Lace suddenly hear a familiar sound again. Purring. 

"That sound again."

"... Yes."

"That's what you said yesterday yes ? That it's for when you want to form a special bound with another person ?"

"... Yes."

"... I'm sorry for not noticing that it was stupidly obvious you care about me."

"... Yeah, I was pretty sure it was obvious, but apparently you're dumb enough to believe that I want to be with you without even caring about you."

Hornet slowly embraced the white body against hers. 

"I'm sorry for not caring enough about myself, Lace."

"... If I do acknowledge your appreciation for me, would you take more care of yourself ?"

"... That's a deal"

The lumaflies still flopped their wings, and the hug lasted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooh that was some fluff there.   
> Still they not a couple yet. Yeah we've got two dumbass too stupid to understand that yet. Gotta wait a few more chapters.


	14. Chapter 14

Getting informations was a priority, yes. But in a world filled with trained people that are against you, can't just take your time : you also have to be careful. If you hide yourself and they see you, you're dead. If you don't hide yourself and they understand that you're not one of them, you're dead. Clearly, everything was risky but probably worth it if well done. 

Lace decided that hiding their true identities would be the easiest to get to the thing they wanted : spy on the enemy on their own bases. And thankfully, one of their bases was pretty easy to access. It was a very popular pilgrimage destination for members of the cult, a lake honoured for its mystic properties. Guards in the place were usually openly discussing the cult's plans without any worries. After all, what kind of enemy would be intelligent enough to defeat the cult and dumb enough to go into the middle of a an area full of guards ? ... Apparently, two very daring girls. Hornet was determined to do anything for her clan, even if it was risky. Thankfully, she didn't looked like a spider and some new clothes was enough to make her look like any normal citizen. Lace was a pretty normal looking bug and a simple cloak and jewelries were more than enough to hide her true identity. 

The lake really wasn't that far. Only 10 minutes away from Lace's home. The fact was, the path felt a lot longer with all of the stress accumulated over this plan. If it didn't work, they were in big trouble. None of them brought weapons to look more like weak girls traveling around mainly focusing on help from others. And even if Hornet was indeed capable of getting quickly our of the place with her silk, the guards would clearly follow them. 

So here they went, down to the sacred place, trying to convince themselves that they were just normal wanderers. 

The place didn't even looked that much guarded. In fact, the lake was surrounded by four towers which each only had a few guards on top to look at the travelers coming to pray. Yet Lace knew too well that many more were hidden in the structures, ready to annihilate any kind of threat. 

"Okay. Here's the plan. We'll climb up to one tower, "admire the view" and start having small talks with the guards. We'll ask innocently about future plans of the cult and that will be all. Got it ?"

"Are you sure we can climb all the way up here without looking suspicious ?"

"It's allowed, and pretty much appreciated by the guards. Thoses idiots are starving for any kind of company, especially if it's the opposite gender. If you want an excuse about why are you going up to see the lake, simply answer by saying that you came from ... I don't know, deep docks, and it's pretty far, and you want to see the lake from a good point of view to really appreciate the end of your journey or something. Trust me dear, they'll simply nod their head and will try to flirt with you after that."

"I ... I don't really know how to respond to flirt from males ... I'm genuinely never interested and I don't know how to make them understand that."

"Do not worry my little spider, I will take care of it. I have no difficulties to make theses idiots bow to me like a queen and leave you alone."

Both bugs approached the lake, looking around to see if anyone was suspicious. But no traveler seemed to care, simply drinking or praying hands into the lake, mumbling prayers. Lace immediately rushed to a tower. 

In wasn't that hard to climb, Hornet had way worse. But seeing the lake from high up definitely was disturbing. The spider never felt fear from heights but this water, this particular place... She felt uneasy. Oppressed. Thankfully the fact that Lace was around to calm her and remind her of the role she had to play made it a lot less stressful. 

"Hoho, we don't see ladies in the towers that often, it is quite the pleasure to see such beauties at this height ... What brings you here, my darlings ?"

Hornet shivered. This kind of talks really weren't her thing, and even more so they petrified her. She never knew how to respond to flirting and even less so to 

"Hello there ! My friend here is from the mantis village all the back to the legendary kingdom of hallownest ! She talked about this legendary lake to me sooo much that I ended up bringing her to the place for her to see it with her own eyes... I'm from coral forest so I'm a bit far even with a place to be, but it clearly was worth it."

"A mantis hey ? It is quite rare, I've never seen one with my own eyes before ! But it is also nice to see that the bells's melody is spreading all the way to Hallownest."

Hornet simply continued to look at the lake, without making eye contact. It made her sick, yes, but starting the conversation would probably make her even sicker. And simply being absorbed by the place would fit Lace's description. 

"I do understand that you want to be here to appreciate everything while it is still calm. Even I asked to be brought in this place to see it before the big battle."

Lace made a big gasp, obviously fake but apparently credible to some gullible guard. There was a big day. Soon. And apparently it was something that everyone knew about. Of course she was going to play dumb to get infos. It made Hornet smile, already imagining the ridiculous conversation that was going to take place. 

"The big day ! Woaw, I completely forgot about it, with everything being so calm around here ! You guys really do your work well, I even heard they took the great Lace down ! You hear that, the monstrous creature was crushed by some might guards just like you ! I'm finding it so incredible..."

Hornet still stared at the lake, doing her best not to snort.

"Oh yes ! But that cold blooded creature had no chance against us. Remember, we'll protect you no matter what !"

"I do believe that, yes ! Sooo ... About the Big day, when is it again ? I know this sound stupid but I'm soooo forgetful and it would be a shame for me not to remember it !"

"Indeed ! It will be in three weeks. I certainly recommend you to write it down, people must have told you about it already but if you do not stay at home there will be an obvious risk of injuries or even worse, letting thoses nasty horseshoe crabs control you !"

"O-oh yes, just the thought of it ... It terrifies me so much ... Are you sure they won't go into my house and fetch me ?"

"Do not be afraid, dear, because we will protect you until the very end !"

And with a wonderfully ridiculous gesture, the guard started to fight an invisible monster, observed by a falsely amazed Lace. But suddenly, with a pretty big movement, the bell attached to the guard's weapon detached itself and was thrown into the lake. Once again, Lace made a pretty big gasp

"Oh no, what a shame ..." 

"I'm sorry, I can't be off duty ... I know you two want to appreciate the view but may I ask you to get back my bell ?"

"Ooooh but of course my dear. It would be a pleasure to help such a powerful and dedicated guard on their task, we'd love to do that."

"You really are very kind, miss. Thank you very much !"

Slowly getting back into the spiraling stairs, Lace quickly grabbed Hornet's hand and whispered. 

"Hornet. I can't get into that water. I can't explain why right now, because someone could hear us, but you have to get it for me. Got it ?"

Hornet, a bit disturbed, simply nodded. Did Lace feared water ? Didn't she knew how to swim ? Well, in any case, there was no chance of getting back now. The guards were giving precious informations that they couldn't get anywhere else, and if Hornet just had to get a but wet for it, it'll be worth it.

The golden bell was clearly visible, shining through the water. Hornet didn't thought twice and simply dived into the pure transparent liquid. 

But something felt wrong

Hornet clenched her teeth and slowly got out of the water with the bell in hand. It hurted. It hurted a lot. It felt like her shell itself was slowly melting, burnt off by some kind particularly aggressive acid. Still, she took her time to get out of the lake. Everyone was just getting in the water like nothing was going on. This was obviously abnormal and the last thing Hornet wanted was to get attention. She walked towards her partner slowly and whispered. 

"I didn't expect it to hurt like that. I really hope it dries ... As fast as possible."

Lace stared eyes wide open at the spider which was already rushing back to the tower, running over stairs two by two followed by the white bug that simply continued to stare. 

She arrived huffing at the top of tower, showing the shiny object to the guard. 

"Here you go sir."

"Awh, thank you miss ! You have such a sweet voice, it's a shame I didn't hear it earlier !"

"Well I'm ... Thank you."

"Oh, hold on."

The guard quickly scribbled something on a nearby rock and gave it to the spider, which only laughed awkwardly and put the little thing in her pocket.

"So uuuh ... I really hope your special mission goes well. It looks pretty dangerous even if you're pretty uhm ... Powerful looking."

Really, Hornet never knew how to compliment men. 

"Well, I would normally say that you shouldn't be too worried, but I do accept the encouragement. Killing thoses beasts will be quite a challenge, but it will be for the best ! Everyone will be freed of theses nasty creature's mind control. And we'll be very glad to see people like you getting to live around after the battle's over !"

"Hahaha umh yes. Thank you. It's getting pretty late, don't you think Lace ?"

The white bug barely looked at her partner's direction but nodded in approval. 

"It's sad to see you leaving so soon, but I guess you'll have to walk quite a lot to get back to the coral forest in time. It was really nice to see you, I hope we can meet again !"

"Y-yes. Bye !"

Hornet slowly walked towards the exit, wobbling around and trying to get back to her senses. 

And so, she didn't notice that Lace was behind her, clenching fists and teeth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uuuh this chapter took a lot longer than I thought because it was originally 3k words but I thought that this chapter being already twice as long as the usual ones, that was a bad idea   
> Also, stay tuned : in the next chapter something big is coming !


	15. Chapter 15

Hornet slowly got down the stairs once again, looking at the small rock the guard gave her. It was an address, written in silk with a little heart next to it. She threw the rock down the stairs with disgust.

"Yikes. No way I'm ever getting there. Thankfully everything I over now."

She looked at Lace and noticed something. She didn't talk. She usually always had a little thing to say after this kind of events, a bit of salt on the wound or just some irony, but nothing. In fact, Lace was silent ever since she got out of the lake. Hornet clenched her teeth but didn't say anything else. She prefered to stay silent even if it was a tad awkward than making a scene and ending up being caught. 

So they walked silently, the white bug starring at the ground almost mindlessly while spider checked on her with worried eyes regularly. Hornet really wasn't the best with communication. She barely had people to talk to throughout the years, so how could she even imagine how to react in this kind of situation ? Awkward was the word, and she clearly hated that feeling. 

Once getting in their home, Hornet sighed. She tried to take a look at her friend to check if she could finally start a conversation with her but she quickly got grabbed by an arm, struck against the front door with a hand onto her neck. 

"L-Lace ?! What are you-"

"You. You are a higher being."

Hornet shivered. Lace's look was undescribable, she had no idea what kind of emotion was getting thought her voice as she simply let thoses words out.

"Y-yes ? ... I do know that."

"Why didn't you tell me."

Hornet was now sure she was scared. She didn't believe that Lace was capable of doing anything bad to her, but she was kind of unpredictable. Hornet wasn't trying to hide this fact for sure, but avoiding the subject was something she would do gladly. 

"Because uuuh ... You know it's ... Pretty difficult to tell in a conversation ? I really don't know how to tell people in a casual manner that my genitor was a Wyrm and a pale being, you know ... All of this weird stuff..."

Lace let herself sit onto her bed for a few seconds, looking at the ground. 

"Of course you were ... Of course ... How could have I been so stupid ?!"

"Is that something wrong ?! I really am sorry if that is, I-"

"Wrong ?! That's incredible !! Even if you are an hybrid you should have all capabilities of a higher being and you have silk ! That's so much more than what we needed for this situation !!"

"I-I see..."

"Do you have any idea of how to use your powers."

"What ?"

"You know, control people, become a queen to their eyes, make them harmonious again, force them to produce hormones to get them to like you blahblahblah ..."

"Well I've never thought I could do that... That's something I was never taught and even if the Wyrm talked about his abilities to be he never mentioned that I could do it too ... But ... Thoses powers, thoses methods ... That's not something that any bug knows about. Normal bugs only know about what are the consequences, not the hormornes methods and all. Higher beings only mentions their abilities to other higher beings-"

"Why do you think I wasn't able to go into the lake either."

Hornet flinched.

"Wait, you-"

"I-I'm not that powerful. I'm really not. I'm just an almost dead hatchling of a litter that somehow survived by her own. I only use my powers to get help from the lumaflies because I know that if I did more my body could receive severe damages."

With these words, Lace looked her white clothing. Even when she was hurt, she refused to take it off. Even when she was dying she refused to take it off. That thing wasn't just a simple piece of cloth. That was her only shell, the only protect she'd got for her frail body. It was painful to have the possibility to be so powerful yet to feel so little. The number of time she thought about what she could have done if she was complete was bigger than how many members of the cult she'd killed. Her mastering of a pin was her only way to prove to herself she was capable of something. She didn't need a shell nor higher powers to destroy. She was more than just a status. 

"I'm ... Sorry."

"It's nothing, really. And even then you can't do much about it. I'm just ... It's ... No, I'm the one being an hypocrite here, am I ? I should have told you about it. Before we got to the lake. Before we associated together. You should have known, you-"

"It's okay Lace, it really is. I haven't told you either. I'm not mad and you're not about me either. Let's just ... Calm down."

"I'm just ... It's ... How could I've been so ... I'm sorry, I'm sorry"

Lace was clearly going out of her mind. She wasn't even stressing about rational things anymore, she was simply in pure panick without any of it making sense. Something in the conversation must have triggered her, but what ? Hornet was really bad with words and clearly couldn't fix the situation by herself. But seeing Lace in such situation made her completly freak put. So she acted. 

She grabbed her partner's head, raised it a little and put her lips onto hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woopsies


	16. Chapter 16

Unions between higher beings where usually to preserve purity of lineage. Pale beings alliances usually meant powerful litters that resulted in a much stronger chance for them to survive and create their own kingdoms and subjects. Just a simple way to civilize creature that needed sentience. Pale beings were naturally attracted to each other, but love was rare. They usually stayed little time together, just enough to mate and for the male to assure protection of the litter for a little while. And since higher beings rarely had further contact with bugs that weren't sharing their status, they usually had to live their whole life in solitude. Pretty ironic to think that the creatures built entire societies to finally end up being the loneliest of all.  
But love between pale beings existed, and was something powerful enough to create bonds of a lifetime. It was the rarest kind of bond for them, but as long as the relationship wasn't toxic, the passion between the two beings never ended. Most would live without even understanding the concept of love. But the ones who had the chance to know about it were the ones who had the chance to construct kingdoms that were said to be eternal. 

And so with a feeling a pure intensity mixed with fear, Hornet kissed Lace. She had no idea why that was something that came naturally to her. She knew well that she was in love with Lace. Her own body, by its purring, had made it clear that she wanted her to be by her side. Her instincts were telling her to reassure the white bug with a small gesture showing her affection, yet her own mind was yelling to immediately stop and back up. Of course kissing someone without asking was impolite, surprising and might clearly not be welcome. She didn't want Lace to think of it as an aggression and even less as an act of pity. She just had the reflex to let her body comply and serve the one she wanted be with the most, letting her desire embrace her body to give any kind of affection that might make the one she cared about feel better. 

After a little time, she slowly walked backwards, breathing heavily, looking for any kind of reaction of Lace. She was way too much terrified of her own act to feel any kind of pleasure. What she did was incredibly rude and could be dishonoring for a higher being, and even for any kind of reasonable person. 

Lace did not answer. Her body was paralyzed, not able to make any kind of move of any sort. She had no idea about what was this feeling slowly filling her chest. She did not felt sad anymore. She did not focused on anything bad anymore. Her mind was only flooded with Hornet. She wanted her, needed her closer, to feel her, to smell her, just to be with her. For the first time in an eternity, Lace was thinking of her own feelings. 

"Hornet, you-"

The spider didn't let her answer, taking it as an opportunity to as much excuses as possible.

"I'm sorry ! I really am ! That was, I, You.... It was an accident ! Yes ! I wanted to ... I'm sorry !"

She was panicking. A lot. She wanted to distract Lace from her bad thoughts but in the end she only made it way worse for herself. Hornet was proud. Reckless. She had no idea of how to say sorry properly. Especially in a situation like this. 

After a few seconds, Lace grabbed Hornet's head and bent it for her to stare properly at her eyes. 

"Hey. Calm down. It's okay. See ? I'm not mad."

"You what...? I'm ... Why ?"

"Why ? Well, I guess I should be mad because you didn't asked for that but I'm really not. Because first of all you did that to help me calm down and it worked and second, I won't deny that I liked that."

Hornet flinched. She made a little noise and just stared at the ground, trying to understand what was happening.

"The other day, when you were purring ... You were trying to tell me that you love me, is that it ?"

Hornet didn't say a word, and slowly nodded. 

"Urgh ... Why didn't I notice that sooner, that was obvious ! I'm an such an idiot ... No seriously, first of all I don't get that you care about me but I can't even tell that you're flirting with me either ?! How blind am I ?!"

"So does that mean ..?"

"Do you always seek a clear answer for things or are just incapable of thinking of something without it being shoved into your face just like me ?"

Hornet didn't answer, she just sighed and started to look at the ground once again.

"Yes ! I like you ! And not only in a platonic way ! Gosh..."

"Well sorry but I wasn't sure ... You weren't exactly showing it a lot ..."

Lace started to mumble under her hand. 

"Well that's probably because I hid my own feelings for a lot of time hoping you won't notice anything because I would have literally died for you if needed and I didn't want you to feel guilty."

"Wh-what was that ?"

"N-nothing ! Forget about it."

The two girls simply stared at each other for a while. No words. Just big awkward smiles. 

"So does that make us a couple now ?"

"I guess ? I mean, unless you don't want to !"

"Well I really don't see why we shouldn't ! I ... I think that a little bit of affection won't hurt us." 

The spider simply walked towards her new girlfriend and pur her arms around her   
And so she started to purr again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally  
> It took just 16 chapters to reach the ship that was teased.   
> Gosh that fic was supposed to be like ... A one shot. How the hell do I managed to write so much about it


	17. Chapter 17

Missions to gather food and materials were supposed to be simple, even for people that are supposed to be hiding. You go somewhere, take as much as you can, and just run back to your place.   
But of course, in Pharloom, nothing was simple. 

"Seriously. Of all people we could have met."

A silver armor. A black body. A long twitching nose. Sharpe. 

"What ... What are you doing here spider ?! The queen told me you stopped breathing days ago."

Hornet was very, very lost. Even with Lace's help, trying to kill Sharpe or even capture him was way too risky. So she had to talk, to explain herself. But trying to tell someone that you faked your own death when they were supposed to be the one killing you was very ... Complicated, to say the least. 

"What ? The queen lies to the ones she bought services from ? How unexpected. How rare. Sorry to tell you this, little bug, but the queen simply lied to you thinking you would just accept the fact that you have failed. And you did !"

The black bug clenched his fists, staring at the spider. He then looked at the white bug.

"You are the one lying."

"Then how would you explain that she's standing here, right in front of you ? How can the queen be so sure that she is six feet underground when she is, in fact, holding her needle ready to fight ? You were tricked, little bug. I don't know why or how. But you were."

Seeing Sharpe flinching and starting to think, Hornet slowly approached her partner and whispered 

"Lace, what are you doing ?"

"I had no idea that the queen was the one who took him in. But think about it, if he hates the queen, he's against her. And if he's against her, he'll obviously be our ally. There is no in-between in this place. Just play along."

Sharpe raised his voice. 

"Did the Queen tricked people in the past ?"

"She is mischievous. If she can use people, she won't hesitate. Why, are you perhaps starting to have doubts now ?"

"I told her that I was the most efficient assassin there was throughout the near kingdoms. After announcing to me the spider's death, she asked me to refund her as well as a few hundreds more rosaries for giving her "false hopes" about my capabilities. I did believe that it was injust but I wasn't expecting such a blatant lie."

"The cult will never be your ally unless you're a part of it. They play a very simple game with minds that are still capable of thinking on their own, and you just lost. I don't think you've been a fool. They are intelligent, mischievous and particularly manipulative towards strangers. I was tricked by them in the same way as you were. But what I had to pay wasn't a few rosaries but lifes of others. Dear assassin, I know life may have not as much value to your eyes as for us, yet I understood that you do no seek violence and pain. I'm pretty sure that you and I think the same, if a life must be taken, making it quick is a good thing. But the cult doesn't spare others. The spiders they keep are just tortured for eternity, kept alive for the pleasure of others. Don't you see this as an Injustice ? A proof that the cult is far from good ?"

"I do not seek "good". I do not care about other's lifes. I kill quickly because inflicting pain is useless to my task. My job is only revolving around money."

"You say so, yet I heard you when you were hunting my partner right here. Once you caught her, you said that you would make it quick and painless. If I do recall correctly, you were aiming for her frontal lobe, hoping to destroy to part of the brain that makes pain possible. That technique isn't uncommon, but requires some learning. And I do not know anyone who'd be willing to teach this kind of thing without a big amount of money."

The assassin grinned 

"You accuse the queen to be a manipulator, but apparently you're not better yourself."

The white bug snorted. 

"Perhaps. I would say that if it is for the future of a whole species, I would not be afraid to manipulate a few people."

"I'll admit it. You were right, I do care about the amount of pain I inflict to my victims. But not for others. Still, I won't risk my life over something that does not concern me."

"Okay, I hear you then. Let's reverse the problem. You need money, I need help. If I pay you an amount that is enough to satisfy you, are you with us ?" 

"It depends. Fighting one spider was a little thing. Fighting a cult is another. Higher risk, so a higher cost."

"Comprehensible. What was the price the queen offered you for the spider's head ?"

"3000 rosaries."

"Let's make it 35000 and we're a team. Deal ?"

Hornet whispered once again

"Lace !! I don't have that much rosaries !!"

"Yeah but I do. You have no idea how much money you can make but not spend when you're the most wanted criminal of an entire kingdom."

"40000 and me and my coworkers are in."

"Deal, dear. I'm very glad we could come to an agreement ~"

The silver bug approached the duo, still uncertain yet curious. 

"So. What would be my first mission ?"

"Mmmh ... I think I have an idea."


	18. Chapter 18

That was an awful idea. Brilliant yet awful. Because if it wasn't a success, it would probably end up badly for boththe assassins and the couple.

After buying Sharpe's services, Lace decided to think a bit about potential targets. The leader of the cult was obviously impossible to attack. Too protected. Too careful. He knew he was an obvious target for people against the group and decided not to risk anything. 

But, there was someone who could be a good target. An idiot that thought that after all of this time, the cult was so powerful that there could be no one to stand against it. The highest priest of all, Jasmin. 

Jasmin was strategic, malicious and firmly believed that the cult was in control of everything. In his mind, if something happened, they controlled it perfectly, or at least to the point that there would be not damages that could end up putting the cult in any kind of weak state. She was the one who wanted Lace as a prisoner more than anyone and knew she was problematic long before she started killing their guards. Still, Jasmin had a weakness. Because of her belief that nothing bad could happen, she decided that she wouldn't need further protection than a couple of guards. That was how powerful the cult was : everyone knew how much she put herself in danger in such decision yet no one ever tried to even elaborate a plan to attack her. Because no one was crazy enough to be the opponent of the most powerful organization there probably ever was. 

But Sharpe didn't care for such things. Wrath of an entire kingdom didn't made him back down, as long as money was on the line. And so when Lace explained the situation to him, he just laughed and told her that he wouldn't fear such an idiot. Two guards and a poor little moth that only knew about using spiders should've been a piece of cake.   
Yet the two girls couldn't help but fear what was going on.

It had been a whole day since Sharpe and his associates went on a mission to kill the moth. Simple yet terribly stressful. The two girls decided to hide on the house's basement for the time that the assassins come back. With any little incident they could create a mass panick resulting in the search of anyone alive around the place, and being discovered was the last thing they would ask for. Waiting in the dark and silence was stressful, to say the least. Hornet was used to being in the dark and staying silent, was not used to the lack of sounds. In the deepnest, there was always crawling around. A corpse creeper skittering in the corners, a Nosk hunting trying to imitate voices ... Most people found it oppressive, Hornet found it reassuring. It was the proof that she was not alone. But alone in the dark, without any sound to listen to, she felt like every second lasted hours. Lace wasn't any better, she never really liked being in the dark and fearing being caught was making it even more horrible. The two girls were sitting together, arms wrapped around each other, grasping their shoulders everytime they felt like something was too difficult to handle alone. They probably would've been too scared to stay in this position alone. But with one another, they felt at last protected.

After hours if waiting, a knock on the door. Both girls shivered and stayed silent. A second knock on the door, followed by a quiet yet clearly audible voice.

"It's me, Sharpe. I'm done with the work. Can you open up ? I am sure that no one followed me yet I know quite well that standing in front of the door of a supposedly abandoned house would seem quite suspicious if someone walked around."

Lace patted hornet's back and got up. The spider took a little more time to move once again, still stuck in the position that brought her so much discomfort. The trio of assassins entered the home, and Hornet quickly noticed that the leader was holding something that seemed important. 

"So how did you do ?"

"Everything went just as planned, it was a success. Like I said before, I am the best assassin you might find."

"Well, excuse me for doubting of your capacities yet you failed your last mission, so I think my question was justified."

"... Indeed. But I can assure you that this one was a success. No one saw us, everyone in the room was killed too quickly for them to try to communicate with others, and I took a piece of a sleeping priest's cloth to impale onto one of the guards. They had no alibi since they were sleeping, so there is a high chance they would be framed as the murderer."

Hornet looked at the trio. They were in perfect shape. Not a scratch. Not a sign of stress. This was too perfect. 

"May I ask a proof of your work ? You know full well that we have no way of knowing if you did what we asked for, and you could be lying to us." 

Sharpe nodded and simply put a small golden metal ring on the nearest table. It had quite a lot of symbols written into it, and a big part plated on the metal, resembling a snail shaman's shell. 

"What is that ?"

Lace took the little object in her hands, slowly observing it. 

"That's a priest collar. Trainees put them around their neck when they're young and when they grow it becomes too tight to be removed, proving that they are a part of the cult for their entire life. This is clearly Jasmin's. A getting such object would mean you had to decapit-"

Lace stopped herself, slowly putting back the object on the table with a little deformed grin accompanied with a small expression of fear. 

"We believe you. You did an excellent job. Here's your money, we thank you for your services."

Sharpe took the bag of rosaries, quickly counted if the number was approximately correct and simply gave it to one of his assistants. He stopped for a few seconds. 

"Oh. I also have other infos."

"Mmmh I would gladly listen yet I would be interested to know why would you want to help us on the things you shouldn't care about ?"

"You are my client, and you still have a lot of money hidden somewhere that I probably won't figure out by myself. Completing your mission would mean having my reward and a potential regular client if I prove myself to be efficient, so it would be two birds in one stone."

"Mmmh understandable. We'll listen."

"We hear guards talking about an operation that would occur at the lake of dreams in the near future. It's apparently something pretty well known by the public that this event would be pretty soon, yet the localisation was only known by competent guards."

"I-I see. Well, that is ... Quite the problem. We knew it was supposed to be soon, but not that kind of soon ... Hornet what do you think ?"

"Well, I guess there is not point going against it. Either we act, or we are doomed."

"It seems that our decision is already taken, then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I didn't thought I would have to rewrite the plot of silksong for this fic   
> But you know what ?   
> Sometimes life just decides to go full random and you just have to accept it


	19. Chapter 19

"Hey, Sharpe, don't be so nervous. This is an important mission, yes, but I can assure you that this place is safe."

"It's not ... That."

"Then what ?"

"I'm ... Just not used to people. 

Hornet looked at his associates, that were simply floating around. 

"Aren't your friends people ?"

"They're not my friends. Just my associates. And they're not people either. They were create with something very rare and special called void. They're not alive just like you and me."

The spider flinched. Void ? There were other void beings outside of Hallownest ?!

"Well, I don't see why you should treat them like they're soulless. They have feelings and can feel pains, we saw that earlier today."

One of the creatures did seem quite in distress when one of the parts of their body got stuck in a trap probably set by a near hunter. They didn't seem thankful when Hornet freed them, yet they did show feelings. Hornet knew how difficult it was for void beings to show emotions, and didn't say a thing. It didn't have to be something to be said out loud. 

"I didn't say they were soulless or something like that. I'm made out of void too, just ... Not entirely. And that's the major difference. They just don't have a voice and their feelings are far from mine and yours. It makes them good companions for battle but they're terrible for discussions. I'm guessing they have something in mind but they can never tell me, so why should I care ?"

"Wait, you mean you were created ? You don't have parents ?"

Hornet didn't ask the question herself because she knew Lace would get interested, eventually. Void was a ... Very special subject, indeed. She knew this more than anyone else, with having thousands of siblings being partially made out of it. She knew that this clearly didn't made them Hollow, but it messed up their emotions with no doubts. 

"I'm guessing they had some kind of genitors to create me but I do not have a family in the emotional term. I was made with a purpose, being an assassin, and trained to be perfect at it."

"Heh. I guess they still made mistakes because I saw Hornet demolishing you more than once."

Hornet shivered. She forgot that Lace tried more than once in the past but she didn't expect her to witness such events. 

"Perfection is useless if the situation simply presents no chance for you to win. If a Wyrm stomps on you, no matter how strong and skilled you are, I doubt that you will survive."

Hornet shivered once again. First, void, then, a mention of wyrms ... She wasn't expecting to hear about thoses things in such place, and it did made her feel a bit weird. 

"Sooo if I understand well you're an experiment. And you're happy with it ?"

"No ... Not really. I have reflexes that are simply unnatural. I am no longer affiliated with that group yet I still have some thoughts about it that I can't control. I can't nor think about doing anything else than my task, even if it is something that is probably not good in itself. I can't stop thinking about money even if I will probably never have use of it. It's strange. I feel like a robot."

Hornet looked at the young man, with a little feeling of guilt. She knew how it felt. She knew other people that felt the same way. After all, kingsmould were created with the only purpose to protect. Jiji, Ghost, Hollow ... Everyone was made out of void yet still conscious and happy. It hurt to see that not everyone felt as comfortable in their bodies. 

" I hope one day I won't have to be forced to just always work like that. I'm curious of what rest could feel like ... And that day I hope I'll be able to be friends with my associates."

Lace smiled innocently

"I'm sure you'll be good friends."

Hornet clenched her fists. She would get back to her siblings. She just had to hope that her absence didn't made them feel the same way as Sharpe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter shorter than usual, that's because I'm tryin to write a proper script to the mess that is this fic  
> Thank you for your patience !


	20. Chapter 20

20

The path towards the place they targeted was mostly long and boring. Sharpe didn't seem to be interested in having any sort of relationship with the others, his teammates were barely interacting with the environment that surrounded them and Hornet seemed ... Anxious. The closer the little group was to the lake, the more Hornet seemed stressed. She always knew something was wrong in this country, and she felt like she needed to leave, but she never had this kind of emotions before. Still, she was determined to go to this lake, and she did arrived to the place without much problems. The group simply sneaked around the little camp the troupes set around the lake, far enough from the water to be almost unnoticeable. They were going to make this attack a surprise until the very end, and hornet felt deeply disgusted by so little dignity in their actions. But then again ... People that were power-hungry rarely seeked dignity. 

"Alright, now, all we have to do is establish a plan to get rid of a maximum of soldiers, then try to get the horseshoe crabs on our side and that should be it ! No matter how much of a god they are, I doubt that they wouldn't fear a whole army, especially if they are weakened."

Lace seemed ready for everything. Sharpe decided that following was simply the best thing to do. He liked working on his own but having an already made plans made everything a lot easier. And he certainly wasn't going to back down with all of the money he would get for it. 

The group was ready to go but something kept Hornet from moving. It was some kind of force, a voice in her head that made her unable to do anything. She was stuck on the ground, only able to watch the troupes moving around in the camp with a desire to observe. 

"Hornet, are coming ?"

Still no answer, but she did react to that call. Her whole body was trembling, shaking like a leaf, unable to do anything else. Her sense of fear was at its peak for some reason. It was hard to describe that feeling. She was with Lace, and she was going to win. Everything was alright. But still she couldn't help but fear everything around her. She was so deep into her thoughts that she didn't even notice Lace approaching her to put a hand on her shoulder. She did sense the hand thought, reacting with a loud hiss and showing her fangs ready to attack for a few seconds before realizing her mistake. 

"Hornet are you ... Okay ? You seem strange ever since we came here."

"I... Don't know. I have no idea..."

Hornet put her arms around her chest and started to breathe heavily. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. 

"Snap out of it spider. We're here to attack, not to panick over nothing."

"Shut up Sharpe. Do you need a bit of time to get better Hornet ? I think it would be better."

Hornet still wasn't able to answer. Her thoughts were covering her senses, almost blocking her senses of reality. It was like an intense fog hiding everything around her and replaced any sensation with something triggering her sense of defense. 

"Sharpe, I'm pretty sure she's really not alright now. I'll need your help to get her back to her senses, I'm really not good with that kind of things."

Sharpe slowly walked towards the very lost spider, looked at her for a few seconds before slapping her cheek with all of his might, slapping her on the ground. 

"What are you doing ?!"

"Shut up and learn. That's how you get someone to stop their hallucinations and get back to their senses."

Hornet simply layed on the ground, unable to understand what was going on. She understood the fact that she was hurt, yes. But from where ? And why couldn't she get up ? What was bringing her in such a position of weakness ?

"Uh ... It didn't work."

"Of course it didn't you absolute cretin ! Now I asked for help nor for more problems, so use your brain for a second ! Hornet, are you alright ?"

"Calm down, stupid ant, how was I supposed to know that she wasn't going to react like any other person I dealed with ? It should've worked, and now we have true reasons to panick. That means she's not unconscious but also not aware of her surroundings. And that's really bad." 

"And what's that supposed to mean ?"

"This state isn't natural at all. It's usually triggered when people get a shock so big that their body can't process it and prefers to shut down, but also wants to process it and keeps someone awake. And I rarely see cases like that that isn't caused by a drug or other similar chemicals."

Hornet continued to whine on the ground, now surrounded by the group trying to figure out what should they be doing. 

"Is there any antidote ?"

"There could be, but it's hard to identify anything if I don't know particles that are doing such thing !"

Lace was going to answer something that probably would've been just her freaking out, but she was cut by something. A sound. It was hard ro define what it was, it ressembled a horn but was a lot lighter and seemed to be pretty powerful. Nothing seemed to change for most of the group but something did change for Hornet. She felt a lot more lucid about her surroundings. But she didn't control her body anymore, feeling like a puppet. She got back on her feet in seconds before staring at the lake in the background.

"Oh thank goodness, Hornet you're back ! hat happened ? Are you alright ?"

The spider did not answer. In fact, she didn't even notice that Lace was talking to her. All of she noticed was the lake. It was calling for her. Without thinking, she started running towards the water, leaving behind the pretty confused group. 

"Come on Lace ! You wanted her back ? Now she's back, but we'll have bigger problems if she gets seen by the guards. Now move and catch her if you don't want us to get caught and executed in seconds !"

Lace didn't have to hear that twice. She dashed in the direction of hornet followed by the assassins, praying that she wouldn't get too close to the tents and the militaries. Thankfully, she didn't. She took the easiest path towards the lake, and it didn't involve get near thoses at all. Still, it was a rough run. Hornet was clearly using all of her might to get to that lake as fast as possible, visibly possessed by some kind of force. 

When they group finally caught up with her, she was already at the lake, starring at the water with empty eyes. 

They called her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pfiew, this chapter was a mess to write ... I've been having a hard time writing lately, mainly because of my health. So if anyone can comment, it will be greatly appreciated and the best way to support this story !


	21. Chapter 21

Hornet was simply staring at the lake, unable to understand why. It was a weird sensation but ... She was called. They were calling. Wait ... Who was calling ? It felt ... So close. She knew them.

"Hornet, what the hell are you doing ?!"

"I simply came after they called me. They needed me, that's all."

"You've list your mind. No one is calling you. Now come back here, we have to set up a camp"

"No, I haven't lost my mind ... Can't you guys hear them ?! They're so loud ..."

Lace looked at Sharpe with concern. This was definitely not good.

"No Hornet. We can't hear whoever is "them". You simply panicked. It's alright, I can understand that, but we have to keep you calm now."

But Hornet knew this wasn't just all in her mind. She was hearing something. In the lake. And so, she decided to act. 

"I heard your call. Who are you ? Why do you need me here ? I can't help you if you don't show up !"

Sharpe felt more and more annoyed aq time went by. 

"Lace, I swear, if this mission gets us killed because of your stupidly stubborn girlfriend I'll be asking whatever god that exists in the afterlife to send you all to hell with me."

"Shut up. I hear something moving in the water."

And indeed, the water was moving. Hornet back down as she saw something coming at the surface of the lake. Two gigantic deep black creatures simply floating over the water. They looked ... Really strange. Like some kind of disk, with tails. They didn't say a word, and simply looked at Hornet with interest. 

"It was ... You. Wasn't it ?"

Their mouths didn't move by and inch. Still, their voice was heard loud and clear, by the whole group.

"It was. Thank for coming, little creature."

Lace froze. She had no idea of how to react. Still, she was able to ask just a small question.

"What ... Is that ?"

"Horseshoe crabs."

Hornet simply blinked, having a hard time to understand what was going on. It wasn't her first time seeing such ancient beings. But it was her first time feeling so ... Respectful by instinct. The first time she saw her father, she felt like slapping him. The first time she saw the white lady, she only felt aversion. But theses were different. She felt like no matter what they actions could be, she had to respect them. Was that what a higher was supposed to feel like ? Was it the reason that so many bugs obeyed blindly to the pale king ? 

"We are indeed the protector of this kingdom. And as such ... We barely saw any arachnids in quite a long time. It is good to see that the species didn't disapear."

"Do you mean ... You can't feel the others ? The ones that are prisoners ?"

"We do feel them, but they are barely alive anymore. No more soul to struggle for, only a body for a prison of their mind. It is quite a sad fate for the ones who share our blood."

Hornet shivered. After seeing the prisoners she could say that this was ... An accurate description. 

"We called you here because we are seeking for help."

Sharpe snickered. No one in the knew if this was genuinely mocking or if it was just due to the stress. 

"What. You mean that you, the gods of this place, the most powerful beings there are in this kingdom, are asking for help ? And I'm supposed to believe that we can win after that."

"Little bug, we do not seek help in the same way as you might think. We, higher beings, are all powerful but there is one mandatory thing that is needed for us to be able to function. We need followers. Prayers. We need our kind to help us exist and believe that we are indeed the superior creatures that we can be. But no one in this place believes in us anymore. Our existence was erased from memories and the ones who loved us slowly turned into madness long ago. We need your help to make us exist once again."

"Then ... Why didn't you called for us all instead of just her ?"

"Our power is limited. It shall not be abused or else we might fall to our end forever. And this person here seemed to be the more receptive of all."

The group stayed silent once again, trying to understand everything. It was really ... Confusing to say the least. Maybe too many informations to gather at this rate. Hornet quickly understood how the concept worked, being that it was very similar to why Radiance decided to attack her kingdom in the first place. No one remembered her, and once one person saw her again, she became power-hungry. 

"I understand your situation, yet I feel like more details might be needed for us to get what are we supposed to do to help you."

"Believe in us, little spider. We need your support to make us remembered by this world once again. Our goal is just to get in the mind of people as important beings to once again florish and remove theses manipulative beings from our lands."

"And what could prove to us that you are indeed good beings ?"

"Dear weaver, I am afraid we cannot simply show you how the world was before the cult arrived. But this world, theses cities ... We were the ones who helped people to create everything. If our desire was to seek violence and hatred, we would've done something a long time ago ..."

Hornet nodded slowly. She knew this was the truth. She had an exemple in mind, once again. But just before she could ask another question, a loud horn was to be heard in the distance. 

"Dear creatures coming from afar ... I am afraid that we do not have time left."


End file.
